Dairy farmers from across Europe have staged a demonstration outside the EU headquarters in Brussels.

The protesters, from twelve different countries, say small dairy producers are being crowed out by big business, pushing prices down.

“We want the European Commission reduce European milk production by three percent to balance out the market,” said one protester.

“We’re giving big businesses the freedom to produce milk in large quantities. Some producers will disappear and the risk is that no-one will be able to make a living from this and we’ll have a milk shortage in Europe,” said another farmer.

The EU sets an annual milk quota, some 130 million tonnes a year, which is too high for consumption.